James Austin Johnson

We're starved for new talent.

I know, that sounds ridiculous, with more talent available all the time, we're overloaded. Yet as a result of the tyranny of choice, we all turn to quality, which there is very little of. And what we're really looking for is quality that transcends the niches, something everybody can cotton to and enjoy.

Like James Austin Johnson playing Donald Trump on SNL tonight.

I feel for SNL. If you wiped out the past four decades, the show might have a chance, but it pales in comparison to history. People don't want the latest work of classic rock bands, why should they want a skit show with the same format it has always had. In the past, when network television still ruled, while pay cable was making its bones, if anything was successful you got an imitation, hopefully with a twist. Which is how we got "In Living Color," a Fox show racier than SNL and better, who knew the Wayans brothers had this much talent? I mean I'd seen some of Keenan Ivory Wayans's work, but I had no exposure to his brother Damon, the breakout star of "In Living Color." Actually, I'd seen him in "Beverly Hills Cop" and "Roxanne" but I only knew his face, when set free he was amazing, I mean Homey D. Clown? And the Head Detective? You see you have to match the right performer with the right material in the right place for them to break through, now more than ever.

As for networks competing with each other...that's so last century. Now networks are competing not only with other networks, but cable, streaming, YouTube, videogames, outlets are just trying to get a slice of the audience. It isn't a matter of beating your competitor, it's a matter of trying to compete with EVERY competitor. And the first breakout star was HBO, with its run to quality. HBO made shows no network would, that were closer to truth, to reality, than any network show. As a result, HBO burgeoned. Thursday night might have been NBC, but Sunday night was HBO. And if you're still watching in real time, you're over the hill, today everything is on demand, you watch what you want to when you want to.

Which is why awards shows and SNL are so challenged. Why blow all that time when you know when the show is over you can watch the clips that appeal to you, the internet will tell you what's worth it, assuming you care.

But the problem with SNL is not so much its old format, cassette in an era of streaming, but the lack of uniformity in the culture, the lack of touchstones. You can't do inside references if people don't know the most obvious cultural elements that you're digging into deeply. So today SNL must play very broad, and still there's a lot most people don't know about and don't care about. I mean I don't ever remember seeing Judge Jeannine Pirro. Why should I? She's on Fox and I'm a Democrat! I mean I know the name, but I couldn't pick her out of a lineup. So when Cecily Strong, who I love, plays Ms. Pirro, all I see is exaggerated acting. It doesn't resonate, I do not laugh.

As for Pete Davidson as Aaron Rodgers... Tonight a millennial who actually follows football told me they were hazy on the Rogers details, whereas I've been following the story closely. Then again, this guy can run circles around me when it comes to Esports.

As for Youngkin... I've never ever seen him on TV. I don't live in Virginia and I rarely watch television news. I'm hoovering up the news, but in print, online, not on TV, where you get too much opinion and not enough facts. And that woman talking about the Toni Morrison book... I know the controversy, but was she playing the actual mother of the AP student who lost his marbles over "Beloved"? I mean I know the story, but not the personalities. Whereas in the sixties I'd know everybody, because there was so much less in the food chain and we all ate from the same trough.

So then they throw it to the only man we all know, the only person with universal mindshare, Donald Trump.

My first reaction is...is Alec Baldwin gonna come out of hiding to play the role? That can't happen, right? Too much levity too soon after a tragic situation. So, the camera goes to a guy...

Who looks almost nothing like Trump.

That's how you cast today, you find someone who looks the part, it's more important than acting. I mean couldn't they find a better actor to play young Tony Soprano than James Gandolfini's son? Of course!

I mean this guy had the hair, but his face was nothing like the Donald's.

And then he started to talk.

It took a second to register, this guy sounded just like Trump. HE WAS TRUMP! This was the SNL of old, the seventies SNL, in which the performances were uncanny, where you laughed from the inside out. On today's SNL everything is overbroad, whereas the best performers can be small.

And they let him go on. Or should I say this new Trump kept asking for more time and...the shtick of connecting to Virginia and Youngkin was funny, but it was that little reference in the middle that sealed the deal. He was talking about Mario, whose name was up on screen, and then, almost sotto voce, as a throwaway, he mentioned LUIGI!

Now this is funny stuff. Subtle stuff. This was a laugh buried deep in the routine, only there for those paying attention. But the truth is Mario and Luigi have been around for decades, they've got more name recognition than Drake! And who doesn't love Mario and Luigi, the stars of Nintendo?

And this guy playing Trump never loses it, he stays in character, he doesn't laugh at himself, he just keeps playing the role. And there are further asides, further minor laughs, and I'm saying to myself this guy is better than Alec Baldwin ever was. This guy WAS Trump, Alec Baldwin is Alec Baldwin, doing a broad, unbelievable characterization.

Now I had no idea who this guy was, I immediately went to my phone.

Turns out I was not the only person who got the message, there were numerous stories about James Austin Johnson and how he killed it as Trump on tonight's SNL.

That's the performer's name. Turns out he's famous for doing Trump, and now he's graduated to SNL.

Are you getting this? It's not like Johnson's performances weren't good enough on YouTube, he just needed to be plucked out of relative obscurity and put on TV. The idea of becoming an overnight star is passé. You hone your craft independently utilizing the free tools of the internet and you hang in there, for years, and wait for your lucky break, further recognition, which rarely happens anyway.

And I'm telling you about Mr. Johnson's performance, but the truth is the reach of SNL is miniscule. Oh, it's larger than so many other productions, but compared to its strength in the pre-internet world, IT'S DE MINIMIS!

But at least I saw James. And since it is the internet era, I went down the rabbit hole online to excavate his bio and performances, that's one thing we couldn't do in the days of yore.

So I don't know what the future holds for Johnson, but I'm watching him, walking the tightrope, continuing to be excellent, for minutes, and I'm marveling at the performance, I immediately tell myself that I must tell my audience. Because I haven't seen anything this good for a while, certainly not on SNL.

So check it out.

More of this please.

You can watch all of the opening, but to just catch James Austin Johnson start around four minutes in: https://bit.ly/3qjZMrv


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